Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

An optical to IR sky brightness model for the LSST

Journal Article · · Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems Proceedings VI
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232947· OSTI ID:1784946
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Harvard University Department of Physics
  2. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Project Office (United States)
  4. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  5. Cook Astronomical Consulting (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

To optimize the observing strategy of a large survey such as the LSST, one needs an accurate model of the night sky emission spectrum across a range of atmospheric conditions and from the near-UV to the near-IR. We have used the ESO SkyCalc Sky Model Calculator to construct a library of template spectra for the Chilean night sky. The ESO model includes emission from the upper and lower atmosphere, scattered starlight, scattered moonlight, and zodiacal light. We have then extended the ESO templates with an empirical fit to the twilight sky emission as measured by a Canon all-sky camera installed at the LSST site. With the ESO templates and our twilight model we can quickly interpolate to any arbitrary sky position and date and return the full sky spectrum or surface brightness magnitudes in the LSST filter system. Comparing our model to all-sky observations, we find typical residual RMS values of ±0.2-0.3 magnitudes per square arcsecond.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; SC0007881
OSTI ID:
1784946
Journal Information:
Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems Proceedings VI, Journal Name: Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems Proceedings VI Vol. 9910
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (3)

A daytime measurement of the lunar contribution to the night sky brightness in LSST’s ugrizy bands–initial results journal March 2016
UBVRI twilight sky brightness at ESO-Paranal journal July 2006
The dancing sky: 6 years of night-sky observations at Cerro Paranal journal February 2008

Cited By (6)

Galaxy formation and evolution science in the era of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope journal June 2019
Models and Simulations for the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC) journal July 2019
Models and simulations for the photometric lsst astronomical time series classification challenge (Plasticc) text January 2019
A Framework for Telescope Schedulers: With Applications to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope journal March 2019
LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products journal March 2019
LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products text January 2008

Similar Records

Quality studies of the data taking conditions for the Auger fluorescence detector
Conference · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · OSTI ID:15020271
MODELING OF THE ZODIACAL EMISSION FOR THE AKARI/IRC MID-INFRARED ALL-SKY DIFFUSE MAPS
Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astronomical Journal (Online) · OSTI ID:22519991

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Astronomy Software
Python
Sky Emission